Advance HE and HEPI recently published the annual Student Academic Experience Survey (SAES). Many of the positive messages from the report were ‘overshadowed by the cost-of-living crisis’ and its effects on students. We reflect on these findings, and offer some suggestions on how to alleviate the financial burden for students.

On Wednesday 17 May, 370 UCL students opted to take part in an in-person digital examination pilot, sat on WISEflow, at the ExCel Arena, London. We discussed this pilot with Joanne Moles, Head of Assessment Delivery and Platforms.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, students were sent to work from their homes as lockdowns came into effect worldwide. For many, however, this was not a feasible reality - huge numbers of students were unable to access the technology they needed to continue their studies. This issue is known as ‘digital poverty.’

With a ‘new normal’ being established post-pandemic, Professor Mariann Rand-Weaver, Vice-Provost Education, and Robyn Fitzharris, Executive Officer to the Vice-Provost, Brunel University London, reflect on the adaptability of digital assessment, and how exams data was used to monitor equality and inform the response to student welfare issues.

Imperial College Business School ran a pilot project in 2016 and expanded to 70+ exams with 1600 students in 2020. What follows is an account of the WISEflow project at ICBS by Emma Stoakes, Exams and Assessment Manager & Digital Assessment Project Lead (Business School).

“Because we’re an arts- and media-based institution, we have a lot of physical items – things like sculptures, paintings, prints of photographs, sketchbooks – so it’s the pairing of the digital and the physical that’s important for us.”

What does the future of digital exams look like? At WISEcon 2019, Professor Mariann Rand-Weaver made a three-fold suggestion.

After four years of WISEflow, Professor Mariann Rand-Weaver, Vice-Provost at Brunel University London, reflects on digital assessment and its future.